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Friday, June 25, 2010

UP the Downside


oN tHe HiGh SiDe first, so I can soon swoop down in this week's emotional pendulum, Kyle put this Freightliner truck up for auction this morning and is planning a celebratory camping trip with the boys. Next week will be his last week of work and I bought a "Life is Good" shirt to give him on Friday.
Here is a pic of one my sunshine rays entitled (for the last time), "An Oil Man's Son". (Yes, my La-La's that is Daddy's oilfield hardhat.)
So I am finishing up my deadlines as the "countdown till corporate" crosses t - 10. I just capped off an artisan's column about a local jewelry maker, thinking that it was my last except for the guilt-laden plea of my favorite editor to take 'just one more'. (Guilt laden because I love her too much to leave in the lurch and because I majorly screwed up an article by turning in the rough draft and not the final and it got published--I felt so bad I cried. If you haven't noticed I expect perfection out of no one but me.) Ugh--not how I wanted to spend my last week. To think I was going to get away scott-free, yeah right.
And of course, I have work to do on the design book, but that doesn't count, right?
It was funny, because one of my friends--a little dyanamo--called with 2 amazing story ideas. They are definitely news-worthy, but I am having a hard time passing them up, because--well, it kills me that someone else is going to write them.
So while I can beat myself up that I didn't turn writing into a financially successful venture, it still hurts that I won't be doing it for a while.
Yes, yes, this may open up an opportunity for "writing for fun" and "finishing the novel", but today I am PMSing people and I just don't feel like Peppy Bo Peep. Got It?!
And so in appropriately melodramatic, Aunt Flow style, I say to my writing career, "When will I see you again?" ("Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo...ahhaah, aaahhaaa" from my background singers for any of you familiar with the 70's group The Three Degrees...And fade out.)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Did He Really Just Wash My Underwear?!

Ahh, the joys of a restless night waking up thinking about our impending reduction of income. It is scary. So what do you think we did last night to prepare for it? Went out to dinner of course. Why is it so hard to make changes before you actually have to?! I guess we'll start today--ha!
But on the good and very interesting side of things, the shift in our roles began yesterday. Let me say that Kyle' s role with the boys has always been a very hands-on, front and center one when he is not working and that I have seen that side taken to the next level ever since I started job hunting. Afterall, as any mom can attest, it is no small thing to know that your children's behavoir is a reflection of you and your parenting style--especially if you stay at home with them. And I think that has really sunk in with dear old dad.
BUT onto the shocking part of the shift, yesterday the house was cleaned AND it wasn't by me AND I didn't have to pay for it. I was finishing up two of final deadlines in my freelance life and having a butt-in-the-chair day when I heard familiar but startling sounds, such as the floor being swept, the laundry being started and the general complaining of three 50-pounders having to put their clothes and toys and flotsam away. I just sat in my office as silently as I possibly could, not wanting to spook my husband for fear that whatever had come over him would suddenly slip away. It was not unlike trying to stay perfectly still when you spot wildlife up close.
For richer for poorer, for cleaner or messier, for nervous about the future but happier.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Booking It!


About a month or two ago I had the opportunity to get to know one of the other baseball moms, Tiffany. Turns out she is an accomplished designer and build consultant. As we got talking, she mentioned her goal of writing a design book and needing a ghostwriter and weelllllllll it seemed a match made in synchronicity heaven.
Of course, now I have a job coming soon, not to mention I am notorious for biting off more than I can chew. But it's a BOOK! Hello!
So we have dived into this project and I am beginning the first chapter this week for her. (And have I ever mentioned how much I love decorating? So fun!)
I am looking forward to seeing where this will lead. Uh-oh, I feel a decorating bug coming on...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Wind Beneath My Wings


So I had a bit of a roller coaster day yesterday. I met with my new manager about the salary/commission offer and the base salary was lower than I was hoping. Now, the commission structure is impressive and once I get rolling, it should be good. But the transition is gonna be awkward. I guess it's just human to want things to be easy, so the news took the wind out of my sails for a few hours. I broke the offer to Kyle and just tried to get off the phone until my sis could call, because I needed a pep talk instead of giving a pep talk. I know he is ready to quit, but yesterday was about me. (K is wonderful but he has yet to learn the finer points concerning my need for feminine optimism.)
Wonderful woman that Nikki is, by the time I finished talking to her, I had several takeaways:
1. It's just reality and nothing that a thoughtful plan and a little patience won't handle.
2. This might work out perfectly, forcing us into the simple and streamlined lifestyle we keep talking about (while dodging).
3. It's better to have a small start with big potential rather than a static income that is 'as good as it gets' on day one as on day infinity.
There were probably more, but they all ran along the same lines of "Everything will be alright."
Later I was able to hash those take aways with my dear friend Dawn and now I totally believe everything we came up with. Funny, life is always what you make of it.
Cue music: Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.
Thank God for friends, because whether the wind beneath my wings they were providing was a breath of fresh air or a blast of hot air, I needed it and it worked.

Monday, June 14, 2010

I Got A J.O.B. (Just Offer the Bucks!)

Well, my little, scattered saga is set to take another life turn. Get ready for stories from a working mom, because I have been offered a job with Ikon Office Solutions selling to major accounts. (Best interviews of my life, those were. Good thing there is no hidden camera in my car to publicize my interview practice on the way there during a traffic jam.) I am excited, scared, ready, hesitant and jumbled. It's going to be great because we need this.
From the start, this decision has felt very much like a God current, moving us in an unknown, yet not unwelcome, direction; and it seems that the Big Man Above gave us another nod to that fact this past week. Kyle, love of my life, was finally offered the full-time position he has been waiting for over the past 18 months, less than a week after my job offer. He told them to shove it. YES! It's funny how once you get a taste of a life centered around family and friends how little everything else means.
So my man will be taking care of my boys and I know that those apron strings will not be easy for me to loosen. (This will probably translate to high entertainment for you. Just like when I had sent my fourth reminder text to him last weekend as I left for a wedding in Georgia only to receive the reply, "Yeah babe, I've got it.")
In the coming months we will be budget-changing and role-swapping while Kyle re-enters the realm of higher education and I once again get scrappy in highly competitive sales. (And honeys, let me tell you, I am nothing if not competitive.)
Please stay tuned and if you feel the urge, I would love to hear your comments and share in your thoughts as well.
Final note, shout out to my rock star, young ball boys for outstanding play on the tournament diamond this past weekend. Cole's team won the whole shabang, while Aussie and BB made it to the semi's. I am so proud and I need no other reminder why re-entering the work-a-day world should prove to be the change we desperately need.